Patrick O'Sullivan (1750) vs FM Michael Dougherty (2324) (Active)

This game was played in the third round of the event with a time control of 25 minutes plus ten seconds per move under the Bronstein system. I had one win and one loss coming into the game and upon reading my opponent's name I had no expectations of winning. Nevertheless, I sat down hoping to give my opponent trouble on his way to victory.

Patrick O'Sullivan (1750) vs FM Michael Dougherty (2324)
1.e4 c5- Sicilian Defense. I immediately began remembering my 13 move loss to IM Nikolay Noritsyn, vowing not to repeat that catastrophe.
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6- I do not have any over-the-board experience with this system so I hesitated a bit before choosing the Sozin variation.
6.Bc4 Qb6 7.Nb3 e6 8.Be3- Upon reviewing the game I was surprised to see that this move is not in Rybka's opening book, as it looks like a logical time-gaining move. I suppose the point is that c7 is a better square for the Queen anyways, and my bishop is not exerting any pressure on the enemy camp here. The main choices are 8.Bf4 and 8.O-O, which both keep the game sharper.
8...Qc7 9.f3 a6 10.a4!?- Stopping all Queenside play, but allowing the shot 10...d5 with equality. I glanced at the possibility of d5 but I quickly dismissed it as unplayable as I thought it was losing a pawn. After 10...d5 11.exd5 Nb4! the pawn is regained and black has gotten the better of the opening phase.
10...Ne5- A fine move. My opponent did not spend much time making this move, probably reasoning that the move 10...d5 was not worth creating a disadvantage on the clock. Against a lesser opponent, the clock can be a great equalizer.
11.Be2 Nc4 12.Bxc4 Qxc4 13.Qd4- My opponent felt that I should have kept more complications in the position by not offering the trade, but I saw that my pieces were more readily active than his and felt that I would be able to consolidate all holes in the time he would take getting his development completed.
13...Qxd4 14.Bxd4 Bd7 15.e5!?- According to the computer castling is slightly better but I chose to simplify the center, keeping faith in my better development.
15...dxe5 16.Bxe5 Bc6- This Bishop has no prospects so improving it makes sense, but I feel that 16...Bb4 is more productive because as the position stands there is currently no pressure on me.
17.Nd4 Rc8 18.Nxc6 Rxc6- Taking the Bishop was fine for me, but the c6 Rook is perfectly placed to eventually thwart all of my play.

 position after 18...Rxc6
19.O-O-O Nd7- An interesting decision.  The plan is to put the Knight on c5 and recapture with the Bishop if I take it.  I think that 19...Bb4 is better just because I have no intention to open the g-file and it allows castling.
20.Bd4 Be7- 20...Nc5 straight away is one tempo better, but maybe my opponent intended to wait for my Rook to get to d3.
21.Rd3 e5 22.Bf2 Nc5 23.Bxc5 Bxc5 24.Ne4- Perhaps I should have taken the time to develop my other Rook with Re1 or Rd1, but to be honest I missed the simple 24...Bd4.  I expected 24...Be7 where I can continue comfortably.
24...Bd4 25.c3 f5 26.Ng3 O-O 27.Kb1 Bf2-My opponent has manufactured his first threat of the game- The idea being Bxg3 and Rg6 winning the pawn on g3.
28.Rd7 b6 28.Re7 Rc5 30.Rf1 Be3 31.Rd1 Bg5 32.Rb7- After making this move I scribbled a mark on my scorecard beside it indicating to myself that I had missed 32.Re6! after which the evaluation jumps to 0.92 according to Rybka.  This game is memorable for me because I held a slight edge against an FM for the entire game and I had an opportunity to go way ahead at this juncture.  I know I was not in the right "chess mindset" during this part of the game because my goal was to prove an edge to my opponent to pave the way for an attractive draw offer.  I should have been thinking of winning, but a 2324 rating is very scary even when you control the game.
32...Rc6 33.Rdd7- In the post-mortem some strong players including my fifth round opponent Gordon Olheiser (2142) were looking at the board exclaiming "This makes no sense, white must be winning here".  These were my feelings as well, because all of my pieces were better than their black counterparts.  Even so, I had no way to break through.

P

Position after 33.Rdd7.  How is this not winning?
33...Rg6 34.Nh5?!- Over-zealous.  Attacking here is the wrong plan.  I should instead re-route my knight to d5 by Ne2, c4, Nc3, Nd5.  I had calculated one move too few before playing Nh5, seeing 34...Bh6 35.g3 f4 36.g4.  I thought this position would be fine for me as the e-pawn is backwards and I have long-term pressure on the black King..
34...Bh6 35.g3 f4 36.g4? e4!- The only move to punish g4.  After anything else white stands considerably better with Re7.  The pawn cannot be captured because g4 falls and the game is lost.  An alternative to 36.g4 was 36.gxf4 but I did not consider it because I thought my horrid pawn structure was surely losing.  According to the computer gxf4 leads to an even game.
37.h3 exf3 38.Rd3 Re6- I stopped recording moves here because we were both on three minutes and I reasoned that I would need all of my time if I wanted the chance to find a miracle save.  The next moves I will show are from memory, but I will stop when I am unclear about the next move.
39.Rxf3? Re3?-Back to back mistakes.  We both missed that 39...g6 traps the white Knight.
40.Rxe3 fxe3 41.Re7 Rf3 42.h4 g6 43.g5 Bf8 44.Nf6+ Rxf6 45.gxf6 Bxe7 46.fxe7 Kf7 47.Kc2?-a poor oversight. 47.e8=Q+ would win me a tempo. Here is where the fact that he is an FM really becomes clear.
47...Kxe7 48.Kd3 h6 49.Kxe3 Kd6 50.Ke4 Ke6 51.Kf4 Kd5 52.b3- The computer shows -0.18 here but I know white is lost.  I cannot remember the rest of the game, but White cannot defend because g5 is coming when white steps away from the Kingside.
0-1

I am very happy about how this game was played.  I  kept the game in my slow positional style and managed to avoid getting thrashed by the Sicilian in the hands of a much stronger player than myself.  I may still play 10.a4 because I do not mind the position after 10...d5, but I will not make that decision now.  I saw the board very clearly during this entire tournament, and there was not a single point in this game where I was scared.  This is my best game ever so far and one that will remain in memory for a long time to come.